MORE BUSINESSES AROUND SPOKANE ARE STARTING TO
ACCEPT A FORM OF CURRENCY CALLED BITCOIN.

ONE SHOP JUST STARTED ACCEPTING IT
-- BECAUSE BANKS WON'T TAKE THEIR MONEY.

KXLY4'S IAN CULL JOINS US LIVE TO EXPLAIN HOW
IT WORKS, AND WHY THIS COMPANY IS SWITCHING, IAN?

BASICALLY -- EACH BITCOIN HAS VALUE
AND IT'S VERY SIMILAR TO A STOCK.

RIGHT NOW EACH BITCOIN IS WORTH ABOUT $800.

YOU CAN TRADE IT AS A WHOLE, OR IN PARTS.

NOW, PEOPLE IN THE MARIJUANA INDUSTRY ARE
USING IT -- TO KEEP THEIR MONEY SECURE.

"I want some Maui, you want some Maui?"

MONEY ISN'T HARD TO COME BY AT
KOUCHLOCK MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY ON EAST FRANCIS.

"Beautiful."

THEY DO JUST FINE -- AND EVEN OPENED A NEW LOCATION TODAY.

WHAT THEY CAN'T DO -- ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS
OR EVEN PUT THAT MONEY INTO A BANK
BECAUSE THE PRODUCT THEY'RE SELLING IS FEDERALLY ILLEGAL.

IT'S A MAJOR CRISIS IN THE
MEDICAL AND NEWLY LEGAL RECREATIONAL POT BUSINESS.

WHILE THE FEDS ARE WORKING TO FIND
A PLAN -- SHOP OWNERS AREN'T HOLDING BACK.

"Anybody can buy a bitcoin and
anybody can come spend a bitcoin here."

EACH ONE OF THE ONLINE CURRENCY IS WORTH MORE THAN $800
-- BUT YOU CAN BUY AND SELL FRACTIONS OF A BITCOIN.

"You can use it anywhere and you don't have to
carry cash on you. You have your wallet on your phone."

THEY ALSO BELIEVE IT'S SAFER AND
MORE SECURE THAN DEALING WITH CASH.

"When you request money, you just request the amount you
would like and it's going to give you either a
bitcoin amount or you can change it to US dollars."

"your bitcoin money then gets transfered to
their bitcoin wallet within a matter of seconds."

SOME COMPANIES ARE ACCEPTING BITCOIN BECAUSE IT'S TRENDY.

THE PEOPLE HERE THINK IT COULD BE A WAY OF THE
FUTURE -- IN AN INDUSTRY -- WITH NOWHERE TO PUT IT'S MONEY.

"It goes directly to your phone. The
transaction happens within a matter of 12 seconds."

BITCOIN IS KIND OF LIKE A STOCK.

IT'S PRICE CAN RISE WITH DEMAND AND DROP WITH SUPPLY.

IT'S A WORRY THEY COULD LOSE VALUE --
BUT THE OWNERS STILL THINK IT'S MORE SECURE.

IAN CULL, KXLY 4 NEWS.

SPOKANE, Wash. -

More businesses around Spokane are starting to accept a form of currency called Bitcoin. One medical marijuana shop just started accepting it, because banks won't take their money.

You can't hold or touch a Bitcoin, but it has value and is similar to a stock. It's price can rise and fall. Right now one Bitcoin is worth about $800. You can trade it as a whole, or in parts. Some in the marijuana industry are using it to keep their money secure.

Kouchlock Productions is a medical marijuana dispensary at 1919 E Francis Avenue. It's a new business forced to take money the old way, all cash. They cannot accept credit cards or even put money into a bank account because the product they're selling is federally illegal. It's a major crisis in the medical and newly legal recreational pot business.

"You can use it anywhere and you don't have to carry cash on you. You have your wallet on your phone," employee Rachel Franzen said.

The owners believe Bitcoin is safer and more secure than dealing with cash. Franzen explained the Bitcoin process for us on her phone.

"When you request money, you just request the amount you would like and it's going to give you either a Bitcoin amount or you can change it to us dollars," Franzen said. "Your Bitcoin money then gets transferred to their Bitcoin wallet within a matter of seconds."

Some companies are accepting Bitcoin because it's trendy. The owners of Kouchlock think it could be a way of the future, in an industry with no place to put it's money.

The store says they've had several people use Bitcoin for transactions.